Small Things

I must admit that small things give me a great deal of pleasure: a house filled with the smell of bread baking, a tree bursting into blossom, a contented cat asleep by the fire, home-grown vegetables and fruit and a line full of washing flapping in the sun and wind...........

About that last thing -  When I moved into this house coming up to five years ago, I found that the original washing line was quite decrepit, with broken wires, bent arms and it was stuck halfway down an inaccessible ivy-filled bank. I promised myself in those first few weeks that I would replace it. Soon.

As things panned out, there was always something more pressing to be done and money needed for other things, so it's taken almost five years to get it done! In that time, I've been drying my washing on a couple of clothes horses, which blow over in a gust and don't ask me about sheets taking days to dry! Oh, yes, I don't have an electric dryer for several reasons - expensive to run, prone to starting house fires if you are not ever-vigilant about cleaning the lint filter and the clothes just don't smell like sunshine. Yes, I'm an obstinate old biddy! 

But done it is now - I went out and bought a Hills Hoist (this is still the original company that designed the first rotary clothesline here in Australia, though I imagine they are manufactured offshore these days, like pretty much everything, more's the pity). I had to dig quite a deep hole to house the socket which has been concreted in place.......it's not going anywhere! So it's standing proudly in the middle of my patch of lawn and I dried my first load of washing this morning! It's removable, so when I want full use of the lawn, I simply have to take it out of the socket. Ah.......the pleasure!

Roof Fixing

Summer is drawing to a close, but the weather has stayed mostly warm and dry - ideal for getting onto the roof, biting the bullet and getting it fixed. It is a galvanized iron roof, like most of the rooves in Tasmania - a great, long-lasting and effective roofing material. However, after 50+ years in place, this roof was succumbing to the effects of time and beginning to rust, especially on the south-eastern side. Most people deal with problem by ripping it all off and replacing it, which is what I would have done if the rust had been too bad.  But it was very much only surface rust, which could be removed using a wire brush attachment on my electric drill, the metal treated with converter and then it could be primed and painted with special rust-guard paint. Also, replacing a whole roof is pretty expensive! It is a big job, because the area is large and there is are numerous of processes to be gone through properly to achieve a good, lasting final result. I decided I needed to do it is stages, in case the weather broke before I got done (I didn't want to leave bare metal exposed to wet weather for any length of time)..........I am well on the way. I'm only doing the side that is worst before the winter - the other side, with almost no rust, can wait until next summer.

 

 There is quite a good view from up on my roof - over the city to the north east and to the Western Tiers to the south west. I'm enjoying the view as I am up there working.

 

I did quite a lot of rock-climbing in a former life, so I feel fairly OK working at height. needless to say, I am being very careful!

 

Here is how things stand: the foreground section that is lighter in colour is completely finished, the middle section has been treated and primed and the small section in the background remains to be done. I'm getting there. I am enjoying it, but I'll be glad now when it's done!

 

 

 

Blue Door!

At last I have a blue front door! I spent yesterday prepping and painting my front door - it now looks bright and fresh and very welcoming.

Now you can walk up the fourteen steps and actually FIND a blue door!

The lighter shade will be the colour I'll be using to paint all the external woodwork on the house - barge-boards, soffits and window-frames. I'm hoping to get it all done this summer, but that depends on how much repair work needs to be done. I know there is some.
I'm also going to repaint the concrete of the balcony and the steps - at the moment its a rather awful shade of yellowish cream and it shows every speck of dirt and dust and I'm forever scrubbing it.........I'm going to choose a colour that will go some way to hiding some of that dirt and I'll be replacing the old wrought-iron balustrading with something a bit smarter and more enclosing. I want to create a more private and lovely place to sit out the front, with a potted garden and some nice outdoor furniture. This balcony is shady in the afternoon, so it's a great place to find a bit of cool on a summer evening. 

Ready to tile!

The bathroom is all prepped and ready to go with tiling, which I'll be doing this week. Suddenly this whole bathroom renovation looks like it will be over soon. Once the tiling and grouting are done, I need to call the company that does the bath resurfacing, which will take half a day to be done. Then I can install the tapware and shower, new hand-basin and the glass shower screen  (Rick McLean Fix and Swing.........500 fixed and 400 swing). Shelf and mirror. Silicone sealing and painting and it will be done! Can't wait to have that first shower!

 

Cement sheeting underlay down.

                                        Bath surround tanked and waterproofed ready for tiling 
                                          (This was after one coat - another was added later)
 

                                   Where the door was........this will be shelving and storage.

This bathroom renovation has been a massive job - I'll probably take a month off after its done and then get back into painting (still a couple of rooms to do) and the outside jobs are always beckoning! 

Unbuilding.

Unbuilding is cathartic. Very. The old bathroom has been all ripped out - all the dodgy "improvements" (with the accompanying huge gobs of silicone filler) have gone, and the bathroom is pared back to its bare bones. I've ripped out old vinyl flooring, skirting boards and my friend Alan, helped me to stop off the water outlets and remove the ugly old vanity unit.

I've replaced rotten timbers where damp has caused damage and pulled off broken plaster to replace the lower half of the wall ready for tiling.

Can't wait to replace it with something bright, clean and functional! I'm hoping, though modest, it will have a bit of a wow factor.

 

Here's the ceiling showing the second coat of plaster being applied. The finish it actually getting pretty smooth........I'm happy! Big effort, but worth it.

 

And do you know something? bathing in the laundry trough is not so bad. For a while!